Game of the Month

Game of the Month November 2004

For years the original Half-Life set the gold standard for first-person storytelling. The sequel does it all over again: the game industry will be talking about this one for years. It's all about complete immersion in a story, with detailed characters, interactive environments, and challenging action sequences. It's brilliant from start to finish. From a technology standpoint, the graphics are superb, but what really intrigues us is how the physics engine was worked into gameplay in dozens of ways. The environment could be used as your weapon, or as a playground-like backdrop to any number of new challenges. This is solid stuff.

Half-Life 2's deathmatch addition wasn't released until December and wasn't a factor in our Game of the Month voting. For multiplayer out of the box, gamers were treated to a remake of the incredibly popular Counter-Strike. Good stuff, but ultimately not as sexy as Halo 2's online play. Still, Counter-Strike Source proved that great things are possible with this game: the future is bright for Half-Life 2.

Samus makes a triumphant return to the GameCube in the tougher, more refined Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. It's hands-down the best 'Cube game released this year and sees our favorite bounty hunter chick undertake an epic adventure on the alien planet of Aether. Preventing an ancient race of light beings from being driven to extinction, Retro Studios' new action adventure tweaks and improves its already excellent 3D Metroid formula. With some of the coolest level design seen on the GCN to date, the gameplay provides a superior combination of ingenious puzzle solving, fast-paced shooting, and rewarding enemy encounters. MP2E stands clearly alongside the other triple A game of this year, so miss it at your own peril.

If you have doubts about Metal Gear Solid 3, you're
not alone. Metal Gear Solid 2 was overhyped and
undercooked, leaving a bad taste in most fans' mouths.
It's surprising, then, just how good Snake Eater
really is. It's like Kojima and company listened to
every single MGS2 complaint, addressed 'em, and then
went on from there. The end result is an intensely
cinematic stealth adventure of unparalleled length
and quality. The storytelling is superb, the gameplay
is engrossing, and the three-hour endgame will become legendary. Bravo, Kojima and company.